A Beaver County activist says the $25,000 fine that the owner of the Bruce Mansfield Power Plant in Shippingport paid for spewing black rain from its smokestack July 22 is "a drop in the bucket."

Ralph Hysong Sr., who lives one mile from the 2,410-megawatt plant, said the state should conduct a long-term health study and investigate continuing stack rain that he said routinely puffs from plant smokestacks.

He and other residents said they also want the state Department of Environmental Protection, which levied the fine against FirstEnergy Generation Corp., to use air monitors to assess the plant's health impact on the surrounding population.

"I'd like to see them work to stop [stack rain]," said Mr. Hysong of Raccoon Township. "If it eats through the paint on my vehicle, what's it doing to me when I breathe it in?"

The DEP announced the maximum $25,000 fine yesterday against FirstEnergy for emitting black, sooty material July 22 from a plant smokestack in an area that extended two miles into Raccoon Township.

"This was a significant event that affected hundreds of nearby residents," DEP Southwest Regional Director Kenneth Bowman said, noting that FirstEnergy worked quickly to clean up the private and public properties. "But the company still must pay a price because of the nature and scope of the incident."

The maximum fine under the state Air Pollution Control Act was paid into the Clean Air Fund for use in air-improvement projects statewide.

In October, the state Department of Health advised residents to wear masks when cutting grass and avoid contact with the black material that contained arsenic and other pollutants. But the department said it didn't expect it to cause health effects.

Health department spokesman Richard McGarvey said no health study is being considered. Such studies, he said, are difficult to conduct.

To reduce or eliminate stack rain, FirstEnergy installed new scrubbers at two Bruce Mansfield power units with plans to install new scrubbers on the third unit this year, said Mark H. Durbin, FirstEnergy spokesman.

Residents claim other black-rain incidents have occurred since the July 22 incident, but Mr. Durbin described it as a onetime event.

He said the company no longer cleans pollution equipment while the plant is in operation. Most damage complaints against the company have been resolved.

"We've modified procedures to make sure it doesn't happen again," Mr. Durbin said. "Something unfortunate happened and we apologize for the inconvenience. We've tried to do right by the residents. We wanted to pay the fine and move on."